Cisco TelePresence Interoperability

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The Cisco® TelePresence meeting solution creates a live, "face-to-face" meeting experience over the network-empowering you to interact and collaborate with others like never before.

As a breakthrough technology for remote meetings, Cisco TelePresence integrates advanced audio, high-definition video and interactive elements with the power of the underlying network to deliver an immersive meeting experience. Through this powerful combination of technologies and design that allows you and remote participants to feel as if you are all in the same room, Cisco TelePresence has the potential to transform your business.

Many organizations are already using Cisco TelePresence to make decisions faster, improve customer intimacy and cross-cultural communications, scale scarce resources, and speed products to market.

As an emerging technology, Cisco TelePresence provides tremendous value by both speeding the pace of business and bolstering productivity, yet Cisco customers are just beginning their rollouts. To provide a transition strategy during Cisco TelePresence deployments, Cisco is delivering the ability to bring existing standards-based video conferencing sessions into a Cisco TelePresence meeting. This offering will provide interoperability with virtually all standards-based video conferencing systems installed today.

Q. What is Cisco TelePresence interoperability?

A. Interoperability is the ability to allow Cisco TelePresence endpoints (Cisco TelePresence Systems 1000 and 3000) to be in the same call-to interoperate-with virtually all video conferencing endpoints installed today.

Q. What is Cisco delivering?

A. Cisco is delivering enhancements to the existing product line that allow it to support interoperability. Product enhancements include software updates to the Cisco TelePresence System 1000 and 3000 endpoints, Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch, and Cisco TelePresence Manager to enable full interoperability through integration with Cisco Unified Videoconferencing solutions.

A. Cisco TelePresence interoperability provides customers with a bridging strategy to grow their Cisco TelePresence rollouts while expanding the collaboration functions to a wide audience. Although interoperability does not provide a true "in-person" experience for users, it allows customers to transition to Cisco TelePresence.

A. Although traditional video conferencing does not create an in-person experience and is often frustrating for end users to operate, many enterprises have installed it. As such, many Cisco TelePresence customers can maintain their video conferencing equipment while migrating to a Cisco TelePresence System solution. Customers are rapidly adopting Cisco TelePresence, but as global rollouts are in progress, customers will want as many end users as possible to access Cisco TelePresence. Interoperability provides this access.

Q. Does this interoperability validate the value proposition of video conferencing?

A. Cisco's interoperability capabilities will not change the issues that have held back video conferencing usage: Customer end users find the video conferencing experience complicated, and operations limiting. As people gain experience with Cisco TelePresence, they will gain familiarity with its superior audio and video technology, simplicity of use, room environmental factors, and the power and reliability of operating over the existing network.

Q. How do participants experience interoperability visually?

A. From the Cisco TelePresence participant's perspective, the video conferencing video centered on the Cisco TelePresence System display, with black borders on all sides. From the video conferencing participant's perspective, the Cisco TelePresence high-definition video is reduced in size and displayed in letterbox format, with black borders above and below.

Q. What video conferencing equipment can interoperate with Cisco TelePresence?

A. Essentially, any endpoint that can interoperate with a Cisco Unified Videoconferencing System will interoperate with Cisco TelePresence, including standards-based H.320, H.323, SIP, or SCCP video conferencing endpoints. This interoperation facilitates connectivity with most endpoints from Polycom, Tandberg, Sony, Aethra, VCON, PictureTel, VTel, Huawei, and Microsoft. It also includes the Cisco video endpoints-Cisco Unified Video Advantage, Cisco Unified Personal Communicator, and Cisco Unified IP Phone 7985G.

A. Cisco TelePresence is integrated with Cisco Unified Videoconferencing Systems through the Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch, which can initiate an impromptu conference on Cisco Unified Videoconferencing Systems and exchange video and audio traffic from a conference.

A. Multipoint interoperability will be available when the solution ships. Multipoint interoperability allows for conferences that are a mix of Cisco TelePresence endpoints and video conferencing endpoints. The full Cisco TelePresence experience is maintained for Cisco TelePresence to Cisco TelePresence endpoints.

Q. What equipment do I need for interoperability?

A. All you need is a Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch running current software and a Cisco Unified Videoconferencing 3515 MCU or 3545 MCU that are running Version 5.1 or later.

Q. Is the Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch a multipoint control unit (MCU)?

A. No. The Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch is a next-generation Cisco TelePresence multipoint (media) switch designed for high performance and ultra-low latency. A video conferencing MCU is designed for video conferencing with a wide range of standard-definition and high-definition video conferencing endpoints.

Q. Can the Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch interoperate with other MCUs?

A. The Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch is a standards-based platform that uses SIP signaling, H.264 high- and standard-definition video, and advanced audio coding with low delay (AAC/LD) and G.711 audio. It has been tested to work with the Cisco Unified Videoconferencing Systems.

Q. What are the network bandwidth requirements between the Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch and Cisco Unified Videoconferencing?

A. The active segment cascade link (one per meeting) created between the CTMS and CUVC is a full-duplex 768Kbps IP connection (704Kbps for video and 64Kbps for audio). The service-level agreement (SLA) for this link needs to meet the same requirements as other Cisco TelePresence products.

Q. What are the call and conference capacities for interoperability?

A. The Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch supports 36 segments (or "ports"), which can be divided into any combination or number of concurrent conferences. Each Cisco TelePresence System 1000 endpoint is 1 segment, each Cisco TelePresence System 3000 has 3 segments, and each interoperability cascade link is 1 segment. Conferences on the Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch can have one interoperability cascade link per conference. In an impromptu environment, each Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch conference could link to the same or different Cisco Unified Videoconferencing Systems. In a scheduled environment with Cisco TelePresence Manager, a Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch can link only to a single Cisco Unified Videoconferencing System. On the Cisco Unified Videoconferencing System, each cascade link counts as one SIP call at 768K bps.

Q. Are advanced Cisco TelePresence features supported?

A. The initial release of Cisco TelePresence interoperability technology focuses on supporting the usage of most endpoints deployed today. More than 95 percent of today's video conferencing simply uses H.323 signaling, Common Intermediate Format (CIF) resolution video, and toll-quality audio. Advanced features such as collaboration and encryption have been neither well-supported nor -implemented in multivendor environments. Based on customer requirements and the evolution of standards, other capabilities may be ported to support interoperability.

Q. Will Cisco support interoperability with high-definition systems?

A. Cisco today provides interoperability between Cisco TelePresence endpoints (Cisco TelePresence Systems 1000 and 3000) and virtually all video conferencing endpoints installed. It is important to note that the number of high-definition video conferencing systems on the market today is quite small. As deployments of HD video conferencing broaden, Cisco will support HD video conferencing interoperability.

Q. When will interoperability be available?

A. The interoperability features are in trials now and are expected to ship in early 2008.

Q. How much does interoperability from Cisco TelePresence cost? How do I get it?

A. The interoperability hardware components (Cisco TelePresence Multipoint Switch and Cisco Unified Videoconferencing) are available today on the price list. The software updates for interoperability will be free for Cisco customers with service contracts that include software updates.

Q. How is an Interoperable meeting with TelePresence scheduled?

A. Cisco TelePresence schedulers get the same consistent way of scheduling an Interoperable meeting, using their Outlook or Lotus Notes. Scheduler will need to follow a three step process.

• Select the TelePresence rooms in calendaring application and schedule a TelePresence meeting.

• Log in the Cisco TelePresence Manager Web UI to add Video conferencing end-points to this TelePresence meeting. They will need to specify number of Video conferencing end-points expected to join the meeting. Scheduler can get to Cisco TelePresence Manager Web UI by clicking the URL in Confirmation Email received from TelePresence Manager.

A. Yes, all the participants joining from TelePresence rooms will get One Button to Push call launch for Interoperable calls. Participants joining from Video conferencing end-points will have to dial the number provided by scheduler.